Construction will soon commence on what it set to be the world's most powerful telescope.
The Giant Magellan Telescope is engineered with seven of the world's largest mirrors to discover Earth-like planets and search for life, study the cosmic origins of chemical elements, unravel the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, and investigate the formation of the first stars, galaxies, and black holes.
It will possess 50 million times the light-gathering power of the human eye and will be up to 200 times more powerful than today's leading telescopes. Giant Magellan's advanced pre-focal optics system will provide a resolution four to ten times greater than the best current telescopes.
Upon completion, the 65-meter-tall structure will be one of the largest mechanized buildings ever built.
"The Giant Magellan Telescope is a $2.5 billion scale project. When complete, it will be one of the largest public-private funded science projects in history" a spokesperson for the project told Newsweek.
Weighing over 5,000 metric tons, the enclosure can rotate fully in four minutes.
It features 46-meter-tall shutter doors that open to provide unobstructed views for the 25.4-meter telescope, enabling seamless scientific observations as it tracks celestial objects more than a billion light years away.
The project is a collaboration among 14 research institutions from the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Chile, Israel, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Rebecca Bernstein, Giant Magellan's chief scientist, told Newsweek: "The Giant Magellan Telescope is unique among the new class of 'extremely large telescopes' (ELTs) for its ability to deliver the highest performing combination of image quality, field of view, and light sensitivity ever achieved."
"Most critically, it will have first light scientific instruments with high spectral resolution, very wide field of view, and extreme adaptive optics system.
"All three of these capabilities will be completely unique and these unprecedented capabilities will deliver the broadest range of transformative science advantages for all areas of astronomy," she added.
"When the Giant Magellan Telescope is operational, we have long lists of [questions to] start working to answer immediately, but the truly exciting part is the unexpected discoveries we'll make along the way, leading us to the total surprises about our universe and new questions we didn't even know to ask."
"Our team approached the challenge of the Giant Magellan Telescope enclosure knowing that this structure would be responsible for enabling some of the most important scientific discoveries of our lifetimes," said Tom Lorentz, North America President of IDOM, the firm that developed the GMT enclosure design.
"We are proud to have delivered a successful design and look forward to the Giant Magellan Telescope's success," he added.
Giant Magellan will be constructed in the Atacama Desert, an ideal spot for probing the heavens that already hosts other large satellites.
The Northern Chilean desert is seen as prime real estate by stargazers due to its high altitude, dry climate, low light pollution, geographical location, and consistently clear skies.
IDOM say the telescope is 40 percent under construction and is anticipated to be operational by the early 2030's.
How Does the Giant Magellan Compare to Other Major Telescopes?
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
Launched in December 2021, the JWST is currently the most advanced space telescope ever built.
It can observe the universe in infrared light, allowing it to see through dust clouds and capture images of the first galaxies formed after the Big Bang.
The telescope's large mirror, composed of 18 gold-coated segments, enhances its ability to collect light and produce detailed images of distant celestial objects.
Its capabilities include examining exoplanet atmospheres for signs of life and observing objects in our solar system from Mars outward.
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)
Located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, ALMA is an array of 66 high-precision antennas that work together to observe the universe in millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths.
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This allows it to study the coldest and most distant objects in the universe, such as gas and dust clouds where stars and planets are forming.
ALMA's high resolution and sensitivity have made it a critical tool in understanding the processes of planet formation and the composition of distant galaxies.
Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)
The EHT is a global network of synchronized radio observatories that effectively create a virtual Earth-sized telescope.
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It achieved fame by capturing the first-ever image of a black hole in 2019. By linking multiple telescopes around the world, the EHT can achieve an unparalleled level of detail in its observations of black holes and other high-energy phenomena in the universe.
Update, 6/14/24, 12:07 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from a Giant Magellan Telescope spokesperson and Rebecca Bernstein.
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